Happy Election Time feat. the PARTEI
Originally I intended to keep political contents away from this blog, but who
cares. It's propaganda time! 'Cause it seems I've finally found a political party that
boils my political interests down to an essence - and yes, they're actually on
the ballots. Ladies and gentlemen: Die PARTEI.
Note: This post is full of pictures containing German text. For translations just move your cursor over the text in question and a little box in English should appear. On smartphones and pads I guess you have to tap and hold it.
Yay, it's election time again! The whole city is filled with lots of colourful posters, which in turn get decorated with lots of happy doodles and stickers... yet in the end nobody is going to the polls anyway. In the last European elections in 2009 we had a turnout of whopping 43,3%, and it doesn't really make a difference that most federals states hold communal elections on the same day. But well, you can't really resent people for that. Politics just isn't made interesting enough for them, everyone is taking themselves so seriously and the faces on the posters, if there are any, just look kinda boring as well. No, that's not how it's done. You have to attract your voters! Campaign promises are fine and all, but politics have to look good as well! The PARTEI got it. I mean, seriously: Who is able to resist theese attractive fellers?
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That's the Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroot-Democratic Initiative for you. The initials in German form the name "Partei", which means political party. And they're not only taking a stand for Dresden, my great hometown, but also for... uhm... well, I'll just quote the words of the great chairman here: "I believe politics is not about contents nowadays. [...] Contents simply have to be overcome." Exactly. Nevertheless, there's quite a few other demands and goals on their agenda, like for example abolishing the daylight saving time and reconstructing the inner-German Wall.
Okay, that might sound a tad backwards. But actually the PARTEI is the most progressive political party ever! Last September in Berlin, they organized the world's first iDemo in which the citizens on the sluggish side could voice their demands comfortably at home in front of their computer screen. In practice it looked like this (remember to mouseover):
And thus the digital banners showed whatever the willing electorate considered of importance. Because populism is modern – and so is the PARTEI.
By the way, this likeable man there on the right is the party's chairman and founder I quoted earlier: Mr. Martin Sonneborn. He has been the editor in chief for the German satirical magazine "Titanic"(which is the central party organ today) before he started on his stellar political career.
Now have a video of the great leader, holding a speech in good ol' german tradition (with English subtitles):
And yes, they're actually eligible! They weren't admitted to the European Elections in 2009 for some dubious reasons, but this year the PARTEI made it onto the ballots. And they even have a real chance to enter the parliament! Since the three-percent hurdle was abolished, only 0.6% of the total votes in Germany are necessary to send a representative to Brussels. A number that could be achieved easily in the past elections. Combine that with the ridiculous voter participation and success is just within reach. Maybe.
However, they're not admitted to the federal state elections yet. To change that, 1000 signatures have to be collected in all of Saxony. For that reason (and of course in order to distribute lots of free propaganda material) the politicians of the PARTEI Dresden hung around the streets quite frequently. I met them, too, live and in 3D.
So here they are, waiting for friendly fellow citizens who are willing to
carefully fill out one of the forms and put their John Hancock below. Of course
all this bureacracy shebang would be abolished once the PARTEI is in power,
that's what the interested people were told. And the nice politicians even satisfied man's basic
creature comforts by serving alcohol! I was allowed to opt between crème de
menthe and egg liqeur. Since the former was used up already I chose the latter
and proceeded to carefully read the election program for Dresden.
Over at the German blog I posted a picture of the leaflet in question, but the sheer amount of puns and regional in-jokes makes it barely translateable. Here's a few of the easier items:
No posters of the Left Party, they're all boring.
Well, as you can see: The offering is versatile, the decision is hard. So many parties providing politics! What exactly are their objectives after all and most importantly: What do I, the voter, actually want? Many first-time voters are probably very confused by all that. So in conclusion here's a little overview over the political parties in Germany – short, crisp and evident.
Bonus
Addendum (26th May 2014): They actually made it into the European Parliament. Wow.
Addendum (5th July 2014): Admission to the federal state elections in Saxony - Sonneborn's Post on Facebook (German). That picture... it seems one PARTEI politician (or their Google image search) somehow ended up on my blog. I lol'd.
Note: This post is full of pictures containing German text. For translations just move your cursor over the text in question and a little box in English should appear. On smartphones and pads I guess you have to tap and hold it.
Yay, it's election time again! The whole city is filled with lots of colourful posters, which in turn get decorated with lots of happy doodles and stickers... yet in the end nobody is going to the polls anyway. In the last European elections in 2009 we had a turnout of whopping 43,3%, and it doesn't really make a difference that most federals states hold communal elections on the same day. But well, you can't really resent people for that. Politics just isn't made interesting enough for them, everyone is taking themselves so seriously and the faces on the posters, if there are any, just look kinda boring as well. No, that's not how it's done. You have to attract your voters! Campaign promises are fine and all, but politics have to look good as well! The PARTEI got it. I mean, seriously: Who is able to resist theese attractive fellers?
Okay, that might sound a tad backwards. But actually the PARTEI is the most progressive political party ever! Last September in Berlin, they organized the world's first iDemo in which the citizens on the sluggish side could voice their demands comfortably at home in front of their computer screen. In practice it looked like this (remember to mouseover):
And thus the digital banners showed whatever the willing electorate considered of importance. Because populism is modern – and so is the PARTEI.
By the way, this likeable man there on the right is the party's chairman and founder I quoted earlier: Mr. Martin Sonneborn. He has been the editor in chief for the German satirical magazine "Titanic"(which is the central party organ today) before he started on his stellar political career.
Now have a video of the great leader, holding a speech in good ol' german tradition (with English subtitles):
And yes, they're actually eligible! They weren't admitted to the European Elections in 2009 for some dubious reasons, but this year the PARTEI made it onto the ballots. And they even have a real chance to enter the parliament! Since the three-percent hurdle was abolished, only 0.6% of the total votes in Germany are necessary to send a representative to Brussels. A number that could be achieved easily in the past elections. Combine that with the ridiculous voter participation and success is just within reach. Maybe.
However, they're not admitted to the federal state elections yet. To change that, 1000 signatures have to be collected in all of Saxony. For that reason (and of course in order to distribute lots of free propaganda material) the politicians of the PARTEI Dresden hung around the streets quite frequently. I met them, too, live and in 3D.
 |
| The PARTEI: Reputable and in touch with the people. |
Over at the German blog I posted a picture of the leaflet in question, but the sheer amount of puns and regional in-jokes makes it barely translateable. Here's a few of the easier items:
#2: Marketing the National Park Saxon Switzerland as Game Reserve Baldy Park
Because there's lotsa skinheads in that region.
#4: Holding the level: Water games for disaster tourists ("Venice of the Elbe")
Hinting at the floods in 2002/2013 and tweaking Dresden's nickname "Florence of the Elbe", which came up because of its baroque buildings.
#9: Fighting terror at the workplace: Implementing a slacker quota for top executives (90%), serving workshift beer (at least 5%).
Slacker quota referring to the highly debated female quota; the respective German words sound very similar.
All in all the whole thing held water and was very convincing.
Because there's lotsa skinheads in that region.
#4: Holding the level: Water games for disaster tourists ("Venice of the Elbe")
Hinting at the floods in 2002/2013 and tweaking Dresden's nickname "Florence of the Elbe", which came up because of its baroque buildings.
#9: Fighting terror at the workplace: Implementing a slacker quota for top executives (90%), serving workshift beer (at least 5%).
Slacker quota referring to the highly debated female quota; the respective German words sound very similar.
All in all the whole thing held water and was very convincing.
And what's the competition doing in the meantime? Let's have a look.
Somehow I feel like I missed something important.
Backfiring posters which at least bring attention.
:D
"The other guys are stupid! Vote for us instead!"
Just reminding people of the election date – this might actually be the most effective course of action for the CDU. Not half bad. And: They're taking care of it. Or not, I can't really judge this. Anyway, they're not the only ones:
Furthermore:
 |
| Wasn't me. |
Well, as you can see: The offering is versatile, the decision is hard. So many parties providing politics! What exactly are their objectives after all and most importantly: What do I, the voter, actually want? Many first-time voters are probably very confused by all that. So in conclusion here's a little overview over the political parties in Germany – short, crisp and evident.
Bonus
Addendum (26th May 2014): They actually made it into the European Parliament. Wow.
Addendum (5th July 2014): Admission to the federal state elections in Saxony - Sonneborn's Post on Facebook (German). That picture... it seems one PARTEI politician (or their Google image search) somehow ended up on my blog. I lol'd.
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